Hot beverage maker with cleaning apparatus and related method

ABSTRACT

A hot beverage maker is provided with a removable pump for cleaning a brewing needle. The pump fits into a brewing chamber which normally receives a pod of an infusible beverage material. A pod receptacle and a lid pivotally connected to the housing form the brewing chamber, After a brewing cycle or when cleaning of the brewing needle is desired, an interior chamber of the pump is filled with cleaning fluid and the pump inserted into the pod receptacle. When the lid is closed, the brewing needle is inserted into the interior chamber. The lid is closed and released repeatedly to operate the pump. This creates a pumping action of the cleaning fluid through the brewing needle to dislodge a buildup of minerals or residual deposits. The used cleaning fluid and dislodged deposits are discarded after the cleaning operation is completed.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. provisional patent applicationNo. 61/826,113 filed on May 22, 2013.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to hot beverage makers, and moreparticularly, to an apparatus for cleaning hot beverage makers and arelated method of cleaning.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hot beverages makers for home use such as those for brewing coffee havebecome very popular. Many of the current hot beverage makers of thistype use a disposable pod of pre-packaged beverage material insertedinto the brewing chamber prior to a brewing operation. A brewing needleis typically forced into the pod to infuse hot water into the beveragematerial. The result is a brewed beverage that is further directedthrough an outlet port to a dispensing spout, and further to a drinkingvessel such as a cup or mug. Unfortunately, with repeated use thebrewing needle can become partially or tally obstructed by depositsleached out of the hot water flowing therethrough or residues from thebeverage material created during the infusion process. in order tomaintain the efficiency of the hot beverage maker, the brewing needleshould be periodically flushed of accumulated deposits and residues.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an embodiment, there is provided a hot beverage maker including ahousing, a brewing chamber collectively formed from a pod receptacle anda lid pivotally connected to the housing, a brewing needle configured tobrew a hot beverage through an infusible beverage material contained ina pod disposed in the pod receptacle, and a pump shaped and sized to fitwithin the pod receptacle. The pump is filled with cleaning fluid priorto being inserted into the pod receptacle and the pump is operated byrepeatedly pressing and releasing the lid causing the cleaning fluid tobe forced through the cleaning needle to release accumulated deposits.

In an embodiment, there is provided a hot beverage brewer including ahousing, a brewing chamber collectively formed from a fixed cartridgereceptacle and a lid pivotally connected to the housing, a brewingneedle configured to infuse hot water with a beverage material containedin a cartridge disposed in the cartridge receptacle, and a bulb syringepump shaped and sized to fit within the cartridge receptacle. The pumpis filled with water prior to being inserted into the pod receptacle andthe pump is operated by repeatedly pressing and releasing the lidcausing the cleaning fluid to be forced through the cleaning needle torelease accumulated deposits within the brewing needle.

In an embodiment, there is provided a pump including a body portionsized and shaped to fit within a pod receptacle of a beverage maker, aplurality of bellows forming the sidewall of the body portion, and anannular opening at a top end of the body portion leading into aninterior chamber.

In an embodiment, there is provided a method of cleaning a hot beveragemaker including the steps of filling an interior chamber of a pump withcleaning fluid, inserting the pump in a brewing chamber of the hotbeverage maker, partially closing a lid of the hot beverage maker suchthat a brewing needle of the hot beverage maker is inserted into theinterior chamber of the pump, and repeatedly closing and releasing thelid such that the pump is alternately compressed and decompressedcausing a pumping action of the cleaning fluid through the brewingneedle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a hot beverage makerwith a pump for cleaning installed in a beverage brewing chamber shownin dashed lines;

FIG. 2 is another perspective view of the hot beverage maker of FIG. 1with a lid for a beverage brewing head in an open configuration and thepump removed from the beverage brewing chamber;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged exploded view of a pump and an associated annularsupport ring for supporting the pump within the beverage maker of FIG.1;

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view of the brew head ofthe hot beverage maker of FIG. 1 with the pump installed in the beveragebrewing chamber and the lid in the open configuration;

FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view of the brew head ofthe hot beverage maker of FIG. 1 with the pump installed in the beveragebrewing chamber and the lid in a closed configuration; and

FIG. 6 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view of the brew head ofthe beverage maker of FIG. 1 with the pump installed in the beveragebrewing chamber and the lid again in the open configuration; and

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a method of cleaning the hot beverage maker ofFIG. 1.

It should be understood that the present drawings are not necessarily toscale and that the embodiments disclosed herein are sometimesillustrated by fragmentary views. In certain instances, details whichare not necessary for an understanding of the present invention or whichrender other details difficult to perceive may have been omitted. Itshould also be understood that the invention is not necessarily limitedto the particular embodiments illustrated herein. Like numbers utilizedthroughout the various figures designate like or similar parts orstructure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference initially to FIGS. 1-2, a hot beverage maker is shown at10 having a housing 12 with a forwardly protruding shelf 14 arranged tosupport a cup or mug (not shown) for receiving a hot beverage, and inparticular brewed coffee, espresso, cappuccino, latte, tea, hot waterand the like, brewed by and dispensed from the hot beverage maker 10. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the beverage maker 10 is designed to brew asingle serving of a brewed beverage using a disposable or reusablebeverage pod (not shown) of a pre-packaged dosed amount of infusiblebeverage material such as coffee. Water under pressure or by gravity isdirected to the beverage pod in the brewing chamber to brew a hetbeverage through the beverage material for further dispensing. Inanother embodiment of the invention, the beverage maker 10 may bedesigned to brew a single serving of a brewed beverage of varying brewstrength or multiple servings of a brewed beverage of varying brewstrength by using a beverage pod containing an infusible beveragematerial of a different dosage necessary for the single serving ofvarying brew strength or the multiple servings of the brewed beverage ofvarying brew strength.

The housing 12 contains components conventionally included in hotbeverage makers of this type, including, inter alia, a brew head 15,water tank, heater, pump, electronic controls (on/off switch, timer,clock, LCD display), etc. These are well known to those skilled in theart, and thus not all of them have been illustrated, nor have all ofthem been described further in this specification. Suffice it to saythat these components coact in response to the user's command to delivera metered amount of heated water to a brewing chamber containing a podpacked with a dosed amount of infusible beverage material.

The brew head 15 includes a lower head portion 18 having a podreceptacle 20 and a lid 22, which collectively form the brewing chamber.The pod receptacle 20 has an open top configured and dimensioned toreceive a beverage pod (not shown) containing a dosed amount of aninfusible beverage material. The beverage pod (not shown) is preferablyof the type disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,840,189, thedescription of which is herein incorporated by reference. The beveragepod (not shown) may include an impermeable piercable containerinternally subdivided by a filter element into two compartments, one ofWhich contains the infusible beverage material. However, this is notmeant to be limiting as there may be other types of beverage pods orcartridges that may be used containing an infusible beverage material.

The lower head portion 18 containing the pod receptacle 20 is supportedby the housing 12 in a fixed position. The lid 22 is pivotally connectedto the housing 12 for pivotal movement about a lowered closed position,shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, and a raised open position. as shown in FIGS. 2,4 and 6. The raised lid 22 allows access to the pod receptacle 20 forconvenient insertion and removal of the beverage pod (not shown). Thelowered lid 22 closes and cooperates with the pod receptacle 20 toenclose the beverage pod (not shown) during the brew cycle. As shown inFIGS. 4-6, the lid 22 carries a brewing needle 28 and the base of thepod receptacle 20 includes an outlet probe 30, The brewing needle 28 andthe outlet probe 30 pierce the beverage pod (not shown) as the lid 22 islowered to its closed position, thus accommodating a through flow ofheated water into the beverage pod (not shown) via the brewing needle 28for infusion with the beverage material contained in the beverage pod(not shown). The resulting brewed beverage exits via the outlet probe 30for further delivery to the underlying cup or vessel (not shown) via aspout 35. The brewing needle 28 is fluidly connected to a conduit 29that provides hot water from a hot water heater and pump assembly (notshown) controlled by electronic controls (not shown) disposed within thehousing 12.

After every completed brewing cycle or after a selected number ofbrewing cycles, or as when needed, the brewing needle 28 may be cleanedusing a manually operated bulb syringe pump 50 to remove accumulateddeposits of minerals, mold, etc. from the hot water flowing therethroughduring brewing or residues of infused beverage material that maybackflow through the brewing needle 28 during brewing, The accumulateddeposits of minerals and residues of beverage material may affectbrewing performance by partially restricting or completely blocking theflow of the heated water during subsequent brewing cycles. In theillustrated embodiment, the pump 50 is a bulb syringe type pumpspecially sized and shaped to fit within the pod receptacle 20. However,this not meant to be limiting as other types of pumps may be used. Thepump 50 and its operation for cleaning the brewing needle 28 isdescribed more fully hereinbelow.

In an embodiment and with particular reference to FIG. 3, the pump 50 iscomprised of an annular shaped body portion 51 having sidewalls formedof a plurality of bellows 54. An annular opening 52 is formed at the topof the body portion 51 leading to an interior chamber 53 where cleaningfluid such as water for cleaning is directed before a cleaning operationof the brewing needle 28 is performed. It should be appreciated that anysuitable cleaning fluid may be used including but not limited to water,vinegar, baking soda solutions, sanitizers, scale removers, etc.

The body portion 51 and the sidewall formed of the bellows 54 arecomprised of a suitable elastomeric material including but not limitedto plastic, rubber, silicone, etc. such that the body portion 51 andbellows 54 may be compressed and released to generate a pumping actionof cleaning fluid disposed within the interior chamber 53. Any cleaningfluid that may be within the interior chamber 53 is ejected when thebody portion 51 and bellows 54 are compressed. Alternately, when thebody portion 51 and bellows 54 are released a suction is created withinthe interior chamber 53 and fluids may be drawn therewithin. An annularsupport ring or cover 55 made of a similar material such as an elastomermay be fitted around the bellows 54 to facilitate installation of thebody portion 51 within the pod receptacle 20. The annular ring 55 isseated on a lip 21 of the pod receptacle 20. In use, the brewing needle28 is inserted into the annular opening 52 leading into the interiorchamber 53 so that as the body portion 51 and bellows 54 are compressedand released with the opening and closing of the lid 22 cleaning fluidis forced back and forth through the brewing needle 28 to dislodgeaccumulated deposits and residues.

In an embodiment, the brewing needle 28 may be cleaned using the pump 50by the following method 400:

In step 410, the method 400 commences;

in step 420, filling the interior chamber 53 of the pump 50 with wateror other cleaning fluid;

In step 430, moving lid 22 in the direction of arrow 400 to provideaccess to the pod receptacle 20 (see also FIG. 2);

In step 440, inserting the pump 50 into the pod receptacle 20 (FIG. 4)of the brewing chamber;

In step 450, moving the lid 22 in the direction of arrow 410 to apartially closed position (FIG. 4) such that a brewing needle 28 of thehot beverage maker 10 is inserted into the interior chamber 53 of thepump 50;

In step 460, moving the lid 22 in the direction of arrow 410 to a fullyclosed position to compress the pump 50 (FIG. 5), followed by releasingthe lid 22 in the direction of arrow 400 to decompress the pump 50 (FIG.6) in a number of repetitive cycles to pump water from within theinterior of chamber 53 of the pump 50 (FIG. 4) through the brewingneedle 28 into the conduit 29 to dislodge accumulated deposits (FIG. 5),and back through the brewing needle 28 into the interior chamber 53;

In step 470, opening the lid 22 fully in the direction of arrow 400 andremoving the pump 50 from the pod receptacle 20;

In step 480, discarding from the pump 50 the cleaning fluid used toclean the brewing needle 28 along with the released mineral and beveragedeposits dislodged from within the brewing needle 28; and

In step 490, the method 400 ends.

Thus, there has been shown and described a hot beverage brewer using apump for cleaning accumulated mineral and residual deposits of beveragematerial in the beverage brewing needle to maintain brewing performance,a pump and a related method. As is evident from the foregoingdescription, certain aspects of the present invention are not limited bythe particular details of the examples illustrated herein, and it istherefore contemplated that other modifications and applications, orequivalents thereof, will occur to those skilled in the art. The terms“having” and “including” and similar terms as used in the foregoingspecification are used. in the sense of “optional” or “may include” andnot as “required”. Many changes, modifications, variations and otheruses and applications of the present invention will, however, becomeapparent to those skilled in the art after considering the specificationand the accompanying drawings. All such changes, modifications,variations and other uses and applications which do not depart from thespirit and scope of the invention are deemed to he covered by theinvention which is limited only by the claims which follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A hot beverage maker, comprising: a housing; abrewing chamber collectively formed from a pod receptacle and a lidpivotally connected to the housing; a brewing needle configured to brewa hot beverage through an infusible beverage material contained in a poddisposed in the pod receptacle; and a pump shaped and sized to fitwithin the pod receptacle; wherein the pump is filled with cleaningfluid prior to being inserted into the pod receptacle and the pump isoperated by repeatedly pressing and releasing the lid causing thecleaning fluid to be forced through the brewing needle to releaseaccumulated deposits within the brewing needle.
 2. The hot beveragemaker of claim 1, the pump further comprising: a body portion having asidewall comprised of a plurality of bellows; and an annular opening ata top end leading into an interior chamber.
 3. The hot beverage maker ofclaim 1, wherein the pump is comprised of an elastomeric material. 4.The hot beverage maker of claim 1, wherein the infusible material iscoffee.
 5. The hot beverage maker of claim 1, wherein the hot beveragemaker brews coffee, espresso, cappuccino, tea or latte.
 6. The hotbeverage maker of claim 1, wherein the cleaning fluid is water.